At this moment, which was certainly one of gloom to the parish at
large, and of great sorrow at the Vicarage, the Squire moved about
with a new life which was evident to all who saw him. He went about
his farm, and talked about his trees, and looked at his horses and
had come to life again. No doubt many guesses as to the cause of this
were made throughout his establishment, and some of them, probably,
very near the truth. But, for the Fenwicks there was no need of
guessing. Gilmore had been told that Mary Lowther was coming to
Bullhampton in the early summer, and had at once thrown off the cloak
of his sadness. He had asked no further questions; Mrs. Fenwick had
found herself unable to express a caution; but the extent of her
friend's elation almost frightened her.
"I don't look at it," she said to her husband, "quite as he does."
"She'll have him now," he answered, and then Mrs. Fenwick said
nothing further.
To Fenwick himself, this change was one of infinite comfort. The
Squire was his old friend and almost his only near neighbour. In all
his troubles, whether inside or outside of the parish, he naturally
went to Gilmore; and, although he was a man not very prone to walk by
the advice of friends, still it had been a great thing to him to have
a friend who would give an opinion, and perhaps the more so, as the
friend was one who did not insist on having his opinion taken. During
the past winter Gilmore had been of no use whatever to his friend.
His opinions on all matters had gone so vitally astray, that they had
not been worth having. And he had become so morose, that the Vicar
had found it to be almost absolutely necessary to leave him alone as
far as ordinary life was concerned. But now the Squire was himself
again, and on this exciting topic of Trumbull's murder, the prisoners
in Salisbury gaol, and the necessity for Sam's reappearance, could
talk sensibly and usefully.
It was certainly very expedient that Sam should be made to reappear
as soon as possible. The idea was general in the parish that the
Vicar knew all about him. George Brattle, who had become bail for his
brother's reappearance, had given his name on the clear understanding
that the Vicar would be responsible. Some half-sustained tidings of
Carry's presence in Salisbury and of the Vicar's various visits to
the city were current in Bullhampton, and with these were mingled an
idea that Carry and Sam were in league together. That Fenwick was
chivalrous, perhaps Quixotic, in his friendships for those whom he
regarded, had long been felt, and this feeling was now stronger than
ever. He certainly could bring up Sam Brattle if he pleased;--or, if
he pleased, as might, some said, not improbably be the case, he could
keep him away. There would be £400 to pay for the bail-bond, but the
Vicar was known to be rich as well as Quixotic, and,--so said the
Puddlehamites,--would care very little about that, if he might thus
secure for himself his own way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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